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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STRUT 

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(716)  872-4503 


xmiSSi/mm 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


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wm-j imi»«n)«iijiii)ipgiii|^);ijii^imi"iyv'-i"tn>i»  ~ 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHAPTER  IN  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


,  -J 


LECTURE: 


OEUVEBEO 


IN  METEOPOLITAN  HALL,  BEFOKE  THE  CATHOLIC 

INSTITUTE, 

ON  MONDAY  EVENING,  MARCH  8,  1862, 


FOB  TBI  BBNIFIT  OF  THX  EOUBB  OF  FBOTIOnON,  UNDER  THK  OBABOB  OF  TBB 

8ISTIBS  or  HBBOr. 


BT  TBI 


MOST  REV.  JOHN  HUGHES,  D.D., 

ARCHBISHOP  OP  NEW-YORK. 


NEW-YORK: 
EDWARD  DUNIGAN  &  BROTHER,  161  FULTON-STREET. 


M.DCCO.LU. 


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V 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHAPTER. 


American  statesmen  and  orators  are  never  more  elo- 
quent than  when  they  dilate  on  the  religious  equ  lity 
which  has  been  guaranteed  to  all  the  people  of  this  land 
by  the  Magna  Charta  of  their  rights  and  privileges, 
—the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.    This  equality 
has  not  only  been  proclaimed  in  theory :  it  has  been  re- 
duced to  practice.    The  mode  by  which  the  framera  of 
the  Constitution  proposed  to  secure  it  was  simple, 
and,  I  may  say,  original.    In  other  countries,  whether 
Catholic  or  Protestant,  there  had  been  legislation  es- 
tablishing or  recognizing  one  predominant  creed,  but 
sometimes  also  granting  toleration  to  dissenters  from 
the  doctrine  of  the  state  religion.    In  all  such  cases,  the 
rights  of  conscience  were  secured  by  affirmative  laws : 
here  they  have  a  wider  scope  and  a  better  security,  by 
the  constitutional  negation  of  all  power  to  legislate 
on  so  sacred  a  subject.    In  other  countries  they  are 
secured  by  some  positive  statute, — here  they  are  safer, 
under  a  constitutional  provision  forbidding  any  such 
statute  to  be  ever  enacted.    In  other  countries  tolera- 
tion was  granted  by  the  civil  authority, — here  the  great 


-rssswiMs*- 


THE  OATHOLIO  CHAPTER  IN  THE 


men  who  framed  the  Constitution  saw,  with  keen  and 
delicate  perception,  that  the  right  to  tolerate  implied 
the  equal  right  to  refuse  toleration,  and  on  behalf  of  the 
United  States,  as  a  civil  government,  they  denied  all 
right  to  legislate  in  the  premises,  one  way  or  the  other: 
"  Congress  shall  make  no  law  on  the  subject  of  religion, 
or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof." 

As  soon  as  the  States  had  approved  and  confirmed 
the  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  it  was  natural  that 
they  should  adjust  their  local  charters  in  accordance 
with  the  principles  of  the  gi-eat  instrument  of  federal 
Union.  Already,  in  1784,  Khode  Island  had  removed 
the  only  blemish  in  her  laws  on  this  subject,  a  brief 
disqualifying  clause  against  Roman  Catholics.  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Delaware,  I  believe,  were  the  only  other 
States  at  that  period  which  were  not  under  the  neces- 
sity of  improving  their  legislative  records,  by  expung- 
ing some  clause  similar  to  that  which  Rhode  Island  had 
repealed  and  erased  before  the  general  Constitution 
was  adopted.  At  a  very  early  day,  however,  several 
of  them  followed  the  example.  Some  twenty  years 
ago.  North  Carolina  expurged  her  Constitution  in  this . 
repect,  in  part,  no  doubt,  owing  to  her  esteem  and  re- 
gard for  one  of  her  own  cherished  sons,  himself  a  Catho- 
lic, the  late  Judge  Gaston,  a  man  whose  character  was 
such  that  it  could  not  but  reflect  honor  on  his  native 
State  and  country.  "Within  a  more  recent  period. 
New  Jersey  also,  unprompted  and  of  her  own  accord, 
revised  and  improved  her  Constitution  in  this  respect. 
New  Hampshire,  however,  clings  to  her  old  unaltered 
charter,  in  which  is  a  clause  disabling  Catholics,  on  ac- 
count or  their  religion,  from  holding  any  oflSce  in  the 
State.  Her  distinction,  therefore,  among  her  sister 
States,  may  be  described  in  the  words  of  the  poet: — 


"- <ttj;^..' 


HISTOP.Y  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES.  6 

"  'Tis  the  last  rose  of  summor, 
'  '       '       Left  blooming  alono, 

>  i     «;,  ifit  All  its  lovely  companions"  ■     •  , 

,,       Not  faded  but— "gone." 

The  disqualifying  clause  is,  I  suppose,  a  dead-letter ; 
the  Catholics  of  New  Hampshire  must  be  very  few. 
On  the  whole,  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  the  liberality 
of  the  country  at  large  has  imbued  the  people  of  New 
Hampshire  with  kindest  feelings  towards  even  Roman 
Catholics.  It  must  also  be  said  to  her  credit,  that  she 
was  one  of  the  three  States  who  suggested  to  the 
framers  of  the  Constitution  the  very  clause  which  I 
have  cited,  and  which  guarantees  to  all  the  people  of 
this  widely  extended  Union  the  perfect  and  perpetual 
equality  of  religL  as  rights  and  freedom  of  conscience. 
It  is  only  to  be  regretted  that  after  having  performed, 
at  so  early  a  period,  the  function  of  index,  pointing 
out  at  the  cross-ways  the  true  path  in  which  her  thir- 
ty sisters  are  now  advancing  peacefully  and  prosper- 
ously, she  should  have  continued  stationary  and  be 
found  the  last  to  practise  what  she  had  been  among 
the  ^rst  to  preach. 

But  it  was  not  in  rc-adjusting  the  dead  letter  of 
written  State  Constitutions,  that  the  people  of  this 
Union  conformed  to  the  new  and  liberal  order  which 
had  been  sanctioned  by  their  authorized  delegates  ii. 
convention.  They  labored  to  imbue  themselves,  and 
those  around  them,  with  its  spirit  and  its  life.  The 
Legislature,  the  Executive,  the  Judiciary,  the  Pulpit, 
the  Bar,  vied  with  each  other  in  cherishing  and  utter- 
ing sentiments  of  reverence  for  the  sacredness  of  what 
had  been  sanctioned  in  the  provisions  of  the  Federal 
Constitution.  It  was  the  primitive  age  of  American 
patriotism.    I  trust,  however,  that  it  may  never  de- 


""""•iSjtesV 


9  THW  CATHOLIC  CHAPTER  U'T  THE 

serve  to  be  called,  in  comparison  with  subsequent  pe- 
riods of  possible  degeneracy,  the  "  Golden  Age."  But 
at  all  events,  it  was  a  period  in  which  the  great  men  of 
the  country,  of  all  professions,  brought  their  sentiments, 
their  conversation,  and  actions,  nay,  controlled  and 
brought  even  the  very  prejudices  of  their  youth  and  edu- 
cation into  harmony  with  the  new  order  of  civil,  religious, 
and  social  life,  which  had  been  so  wisely  provided  for 
in  the  Federal  Covenant.  Such  an  example  could  not 
fail  to  furnish  a  key-note  for  the  universal  tone  of 
American  patriotism,  which  it  has  not  yet  lost,  and 
which,  I  trust,  it  never  will  forget  or  alter. 

Koman  Catholics,  at  least,  have  every  reason  to 
remember  and  to  cherish  it.  It  is  stated  by  one  of  our 
historians,  that  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  except  in  the  city  of  Penn,  there  was  hardly 
another  place  in  the  Colonies  in  which,  by  authority  of 
the  laws  of  the  land,  a  Catholic  priest  could  celebrate 
mass.    Now  there  is  no  law  against  it  anywhere. 

In  view  of  this  wonderful  change,  it  may  be,  indeed  it 
has  been  asked,  why  Catholics,  in  America,  do  not  pro- 
cure, or  at  least  petition  for,  similar  alterations  of  the  laws 
in  favor  of  Protestants  in  such  countries  as  Italy,  Spain, 
and  Portugal?    This,  in  my  opinion,  is  a  very  silly 
question.    Catholics  in  America  have  no  more  to  do 
with  the  civil  governments  of  Italy,  Spain,  and  Portu- 
gal, than  they  have  to  do  with  those  of  England,  Rus- 
sia, or  Turkey.    But  the  question  may,  perhaps,  be 
best  answered'  by  puttmg  to  those  who  ask  it  another 
just  as  silly,— Why  do  you,  Protestants,  not  induce 
England  and  the  Protestant  States  of  Northern  Europe 
to  imitate  the  example  of  this  country,  and  abolish  all 
legislation  on  the  subject  of  religion,  or  "prohibiting 
the  free  exercise  thereof  ?" 


t'"-^  fi""-"  " 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


quent  pe* 
.ge."  But  ' 
eat  men  of 
entiments, 
■oiled  and 
h  and  edu- 
1,  religious, 
ovided  for 
could  not 
il  tone  of 
b  lost,  and 

reason  to 

one  of  our 
he  Revolu- 
was  hardly 
uthority  of 
i  celebrate 
here. 

>e,  indeed  it 
do  not  pro- 
3  of  the  laws 
baly,  Spain, 

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nore  to  do 

and  Portu- 
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perhaps,  be 
;  it  another 
not  induce 
lem  Europe 
I  abolish  all 
prohibiting 


V,  f 


All  such  questions,  on  either  side,  appear  to  me  not 
only  very  absurd  in  themselves,  but  entirely  out  of 
place  in  a  country  like  this.     It  is  equally  out  of  place, 
and  altogether  untrue,  to  assert  or  assume  that  this  is 
a  Catholic   country  or  a  Protestant  country.     It  is 
neither.    It  is  a  land  of  religious  freedom  and  equality ; 
and  I  hope  that,  in  this  respect,  it  shall  remain  just 
what  it  now  is  to  the  latest  posterity.    There  are, 
however,  certain  parties  that  have  been  only  partially,' 
even  to  this  day,  penetrated  by  the  spirit  of  the  Con- 
stitution, and  of  the  primitive  men  of  the  Republic, 
who,  by  word,  deed,  and  example,  ushered  it  into  the 
every-day  business  of  American  national  life.    Even 
this  portion  of  the  public  mind  is  constrained  to  ex- 
hibit, or  seem  to  exhibit,  on  its  narrow  surface,  a 
formal  respect  for  public  law  and  constitutional  right. 
But  still  beneath  that  surface,  and  in  the  lower  depths, 
there  yet  survives  a  certain  vague,  traditional  memory 
of  Protestant  ascendency,  fed  by  a  hereditary  prejudice 
to  the  effect  that,  in  a  ci^ilized  state  where  Protestants 
constitute  the  great  majority  of  the  people.  Catholics 
ought  to  be  satisEed  with  a  subordinate  position,  and 
be  very  grateful,  even  at   that,  for  the   privileges 
which  the  liberality  of  Protestantism  in  this  country 
permits  them  to  enjoy. 

To  me  it  is  a  pleasure,  as  well  as  a  duty,  to  feel  and 
exhibit  gratitude  where  gratitude  is  due.  But  no  col- 
lector need  ever  call  on  me  for  a  tribute  of  gratitude, 
unless  he  can  show  a  better  claim  than  this,  on  account 
of  kind  offices  rendered.  I  am  grateful,  and  bound  to 
be  loyal  to  the  country  at  large,  for  the  benefits  which 
I  enjoy  in  a  legal  and  constitutional  way.  I  am  not  a 
citizen  by  the  birthright  of  nature.  But  the  Constitu- 
tion and  laws  have  conferred  on  me  the  birthright  of 


1 . 


M 


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I* 


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8  THE  CATHOLIC  CHAPTEIl  IN  THE 

civil  and  political  nativity.  For  this  I  am  grateful. 
If  I  have  understood  the  subject,  this  makes  me  equal, 
before  the  law,  to  any  other  citizen  of  this  Union, — and 
what  more  need  any  one  desire ;  what  less  should  any 
one,  who  haa  been  deemed  worthy  to  be  enrolled  on 
the  list  of  citizens,  be  willing  to  submit  to  i  What 
Catholics  are,  therefo'  ),  in  this  country,  they  are  not 
by  the  favor  of  spontaneous  benevolence,  but  by  positive 
right,  whether  natural  and  original,  or  legal  and  ac- 
quired. ">--■ 

The  object  of  this  lecture,  then,  Avill  be  to  show 
that  Catholics,  as  such,  are  by  no  means  strangers  and 
foreigners  in  this  land.  It  is  not  unusual  to  hear  per- 
sons of  the  description  I  have  alluded  to,  assume,  in 
conversation,  that  Catholics  are  new-comers,  who  enter 
the  field  at  the  eleventh  hour,  whereas  they  have  borne 
the  heats  of  the  day.  Not  so.  The  Catholics  have 
been  here  from  the  earliest  dawn  of  the  morning. 
They  have  shared  in  your  sufferings,  taken  part  in  your 
labors,  contributed  to  the  common  glory  and  prosperity 
of  your  country  and  theirs ;  and  neither  the  first  page, 
nor  the  last  page,  nor  the  middle  page  of  your  history 
would  have  been  where  and  what  it  is  without  them. 

At  the  period  of  the  Revolution  the  Catholics  of 
the  British  Colonies  were,  no  doubt,  few.  Still  they 
were  even  then  numerous  enough  to  leave  their  mark 
both  on  the  battle-field  of  freedom  and  on  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence.  At  that  period,  the  Catholics 
in  this  country  were  probably  forty  thousand,  out  of 
three  millions.  At  present  my  own  opinion  is,  that 
they  are  not  less  than  three  millions  and  a  half  of  the 
whole  population.  Emigration,  no  doubt,  has  contri- 
buted much  to  this  result.  But  has  not  the  whole 
country  been  growing  by  supplies  from  this  source, 


I 


<^MU. 


"1 


II18T0HY   OF  Tin;    I  NITKI)   STATKS.  9 

from  tlK'  very  bc-hinii,!,.  <     Kvm  tli„  oldest  aiul  Htuto- 
hest  ^uriily  o;,k   that  now  adorns  tlie  Holds  of  early 
colonial  plantation,  tlion<,d.  it  I.as  spread  its  hranehes 
far  ni  American  air,  and  strnck   its  roots  d.-ep  into 
American  earth,  nuiy  l.e  traeed  Lack  to  its  feohle  !,... 
Smnin-s  of -rovvth  from  an  Kuropeanjdant  transferred 
hither  by  elni,^rratioll.     And  as  it  has  been  so  it  will 
be,  with  similar  cases.     Now  this  emigration  has  been 
gomo-  on  since  the  ••ommeheement  of  the  Colonies  and 
ot  the  IfepiiMic.     lint   with  or  without  this  present 
emigration,  the  Cath..lics  have  been  at  all  times  sufli- 
ciently  nnmeroiis  to  take   j.art  with  theii-  Pi-otestant 
telJow-citizens  in  whatever  was  deemed  essential  to  the 
interest  and  honor  of  the  eonntry.    It  is  true  that,  as  a 
general  rule,  they  are  seldom  represented  by  members 
of  their  own  creed  in  the  halls  of  legislation,  or  in  the 
high  places  of  public  office.     If  you  look  for  them  in 
such  places,  you  will  iind  them,  ut  most, 

"  Rari  nantes  in  gnrgito  vasto." 

But  this  is  a  slight  affair.     There  are  other  depart- 
ments of  the  public  service  in  which,  perhaps,  a  truer 
criterion  is  presented  as  the  test  of  patriotism.     From 
the  day  on  which  the  national  flag  was  first  unfurled 
in  the  name  of  independence,  when  the  people  of  these 
Colonies  appealed  to  the  sword,  and  left  the  issue  of 
the  struggle  to  Heaven's  arbitration,  until  the  day  on 
which  that  same  flag  was  seen  triumphantly  wavino- 
over  the  capital  of  Mexico,  I  think  I  shall  be  safe  in 
saying  that  there  has  not  been  one  important  carapai«^n 
or  engagement  in  which  Catholics  have  not  bivouacke^d 
fought,  andfallenbythesideof  Protestants,  in  maintain- 
ing the  rights  and  honor  of  their  common  country    On 


1    i 


i 


10 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHAPTER   IN  THE 


all  these  occasions,  from  a  glance  at  the  roll  of  the  miss- 
ing, or  a  gaze  on  the  upturned  faces  of  the  dead,  it 
would  be  easy  to  discover  that,  however  small  the  con- 
stituency, the  Catholic  body  never  failed  to  furnish  a 
comparatively  numerous  delegation  to  the  battle-field  ; 
so  that  whether  in  defence  of  the  country,  or  in  dis- 
chaiging  the  duties  of  civil,  social,  commercial,  or  pro- 
fessional life,  they  have  justified  their  title,  as  of  right, 
to  that  perfect  eciuality  with  their  Protestant  fellow- 
citizens  which  the  Constitution  has  conferi'ed  indiscrimi- 
nately on  all. 

But  it  may  be  said,  that  even  the  Constitution  it- 
self is  a  spontaneous  concession,  for  which  we  are  in- 
debted to  the  liberality  of  Protestantism.  If  1  had 
proofs  of  the  contiary,  what  I  deem  due  to  the  pro- 
priety of  this  occasion  would  prevent  my  making  use 
of  them.  All  credit  and  all  gratitude  to  the  liberality 
of  the  great  men  who  fi'amed  that  document,  who  were 
almost,  if  not  altogether,  exclusively  Protestants.  But 
the  matter  was  not  one  which  they  might  dispose  of 
according  to  the  impulse  of  their  own  high  and  gen- 
erous feelings, — and  if  there  had  been  only  one  form  of 
Protestantism  professed  in  all  the  Colonies,  I  fear  much 
that,  even  with  Washington  at  their  head,  the  Consti- 
tution would  not  have  Ijeen  what  it  is.  Almost  every 
Colony  had  its  own  form  of  Protestantism,  and  I  am 
sorry  to  have  to  say  that  among  them,  even  on  reli- 
gious matters,  mutual  charity  was  not  always  super- 
abundant. Antagonisms  from  without  would  have 
defeated  all  the  purposes  of  the  confederation  of 
States,  if  the  Convention  had  attempted  to  favor  any 
one  of  those  forms  at  the  expense  of  the  others.  But  be 
this  i\a  it  may,  it  is  in  the  order  of  my  subject  to  con- 
tend that,  with  or  without  the  Constitution,  there  was 


^P^»MBI 


II  of  the  miss- 
the  dead,  it 
mall  the  con- 
to  furnish  a 
battle-field ; 
y,  or  in  dis- 
rcial,  or  pro- 
),  as  of  right, 
stant  fellow- 
id  indiycrirai- 

istitution  it- 
1  we  are  in- 
If  1  had 
to  the  pro- 
making  use 
:he  liberality 
nt,  who  were 
stants.  But 
t  dispose  of 
gh  and  gen- 
y  one  form  of 
I  fear  much 
,  the  Consti- 
Llmost  every 
m,  and  I  am 
ven  on  reli- 
iways  super- 
would  have 
ederation  of 
o  favor  any 
hers.  But  be 
)ject  to  con- 
n,  there  was 


mSTORT  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


11 


no  civil  or  religious  immunity  won  by  the  success  of  the 
Revolution,  in  which  Catholics  were  not  morally  and 
politically  entitled,  in  their  own  right,  to  share  equally 
with  their  Protestant  fellow-citizens. 

Now  the  Catholic  Church  has  no  recognized  theory 
on  the  subject  of  forms  of  civil  government.    The  little 
Republic  of  vSan  Marino  has  preserved  its  independence 
and  its  republican  forms  for  fourteen  hundred  years, 
in  the  very  heart  of  the  Papal  States.    The  Church| 
however,  is  not  an  approver  of  revolutions,  except 
when  they  are  clearly  justifiable.    Having  experienced 
singular  protection  in  all  the  vicissitudes  and  revolu- 
tions of  the  social  and  political  world  during  eighteen 
centuries,  she  has  the  consciousness  that  she  lives  by  an 
inherent  vitality  within  herself,  of  more  than  human 
origin.    This  has  sufficed  her  during  the  past,— it  is 
sufficient  for  the  present,  and  she  is  never  troubled 
with  doubts  or  misgivings  in  regard  to  her  position  in 
the  future,  wliich  God  has  in  His  own  hands,  and  can 
dispose  of  as  He  wiU.    The  first  impression  which  the 
influence  of  her  doctrine  in  regard  to  the  principle  of 
revolution  would  produce,  I  think,  would  be  a  pre- 
sumption in  favor  of  existing  authority,  until  cause  to 
the  contrary  should  appear.    Yet  the  principle  of  pas- 
sive obedience  on  the  part  of  subjects,  or  of  absolute 
and   irresponsible    authority  on  that  of  sovereigns 
never  was,  and  certainly  never  will  be,  an  approved 
principle  of  hers.    She  seems  to  have  little  confidence 
in  theoretical  systems  which  assume  that  great  or  en- 
during benefit  is  to  result  from  those  sudden  and  un- 
expected excitements,  even  of  a  religious  kind,— those 
enthusiams  in  favor  of  new  schemes— those  irregular 
starts,  and  leaps,  and  bounds  of  popular  ardor— now  in 
one  direction,  now  in  another,  and  not  unfrequently  in 


U 


.,_.! 


I 


12 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHAPTER  IN  THE 


different  and  even  opposite  directions  at  the  same  time — 
by  which  the  pace  of  society  is  to  be  preternaturally 
quickened  in  the  path  of  universal  progress.  In  short, 
having  witnessed  so  many  experiments  tried  on  poor 
credulous  humanity  by  new  doctors  who  turned  out 
to  have  been  only  quacks,  panaceas  are  not  by  her 
highly  valued.  She  has  had  such  long  and  universal 
experience,  and  such  opportunities  of  studying  her 
subject,  that  she  knows  what  is  in  the  heart  of  man, 
the  bad  as  well  as  the  good,  much  better  than  he  knows 
it  himself.  She  is  inclined  to  suspect  or  distrust  all 
those  crudely  conceived  political  changes  which  dis- 
turb the  peac(5  of  communities  and  nations,  without  im- 
proving their  condition.  Oh,  how  many  of  these  abor- 
tive and  disastrous  changes  has  she  not  witnessed 
throughout  the  whole  world  during  her  life  of  eighteen 

hundred  years ! 

But  a  revolution  begun  under  such  circumstances 
as  marked  the  commencement,  the  prosecution,  and 
completion  of  the  American  struggle  for  freedom,  it 
would  be  impossible  for  her  to  condemn.     It  was 
admitted  by  the  wisest  statesmen  of  the  English  Sen- 
ate, that  the  authority  of  the  British   Constitution 
was  on  the  side  of  the  colonists,  and  directly  opposed 
to  the  violent  course  of  their  own  infatuated  govern- 
ment, in  regard  to  the  principle  for  the  maintenance  of 
which  the  Americans  took  up  arms.    Accordingly  the 
Catholics— clergy  and  laity— were  among  the  first  and 
most  ardent  to  join  their  countrymen  in  defence  of 
common  rights.    Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrollton,  signed 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  with  a  bold  and 
steady  hand,  risking  his  immense  property,  as  well  as 
his  life,  in  the  cause  of  his  country.    His  cousin,  the 
Rev.  John  Carroll,  then  a  priest  and  a  Jesuit,  after- 


*« 


HISTO:. 


r  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


13 


wards  the  venerated  first  Archbishop  of  Baltimore, 
wafi  associated  with  Franklin,  Chase,  and  Charles  Car- 
roll, on  a  mission  to  conciliate,  pending  the  war,  the 
good  will,  or  at  least  the  neutrality  of  the  Canadians, 
who  were  Catholics.  John  Barry,  of  Philadelphia,  a 
most  devout  Catholic,  a  native  of  Wexford,  in  Ireland, 
was  appointed  to  command  the  Lexington,  the  first  ves- 
sel of  war  owned  by  the  Continental  Congress.  And  so 
well  did  he  acquit  himself,  that  he  received  special 
thanks  and  commendations  from  "Washington  himself. 
He  was  raised  to  the  highest  rank ;  the  first  who  ever 
obtained  from  this  government  the  title  which  is  popu- 
larly known  as  Commodore ;  his  memory  is  held  in 
respect  by  his  gallant  successors,  and  he  is  not  unfre- 
quently  designated  as  the  father  of  the  American 
Navy. 

But  not  to  speak  of  others  who  took  a  distinguished, 
though  less  prominent,  part  in  the  great  struggle,  who, 
I  may  be  allowed  to  ask,  were  your  allies  ?  Catholics. 
The  troops  furnished  by  Catholic  France,  to  aid  in 
the  war  of  American  Independence,  I  find  it  stated, 
amounted  in  ail  to  thirteen  thousand.  The  vessels 
furnished  by  the  same  government,  for  the  naval  ser- 
vice of  the  young  Republic,  are  set  down  in  all  at  forty- 
five  ships  of  the  line,  besides  frigates.  But  money 
was  as  necessary  as  men;  and  when  the  exchequer 
of  Congress  was  empty,  when  the  paper  issues  had 
ceased  to  represent  any  positive  value,  loans  were 
advanced  by  that  same  country,  amounting  in  all  to 
seven  millions  of  dollars.  Neither  was  this  yet  all.  I 
find  another  account  of  three  ships  dispatched  from 
France  to  this  country,  laden  with  military  stores,  includ- 
ing two  hundred  pieces  of  artillery,  four  thousand  tents, 
and  clothing  for  thirty  thousand  men.    It  may  be  said 


'A 


'  'SB'SS^SSBSSSS' 


-— ^ 


I 

I  i 

I 


14 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHAPTER  IN  THE 


that  France  did  all  this  from  political  motives,  with  a 
view  to  damage  the  power  of  England.  But  I  have  in- 
tended only  to  state  the  fact,  not  to  discuss  the  motive. 
Supposing  the  motive  to  be  what  you  say,— the  Colonies 
were  actuated  by  the  same  desire :  they,  too,  wished  to 
damage  and  cripple  the  power  of  England,  so  as  to 
prevent  her  from  being  able  to  despoil  them  of  their 
constitutional  rights  as  freeborn  men. 

According  to  all  popular  ideas,  at  least  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  the  issue  involved  in  the  War  of  In- 
dependence was  a  choice,  as  England  presented  it  to  the 
colonists,  between  political  freedom  and  political  slavery. 
During  the  contest,  so  far  as  religion  is  concerned,  who 
were  your  allies  and  your  friends  ?  I  answer,  Catholics, 
—and,  if  I  may  be  permitted  to  add,  none  but  Catho- 
lics. Of  course,  I  do  not  mean  to  exclude  by  this  remark 
the  chivalrous  men  of  different  nations,  who  risked 
their  lives  and  fortunes  in  your  cause,  and  I  would  be  es- 
pecially ungrateful,  if  among  them  I  omitted  to  mention 
the  name  of  the  gallant  Montgomery,  who  fell  at  Que- 
bec. I  speak  of  your  allies  and  friends  in  their  national, 
public  character.  On  the  other  hand,  in  this  contest 
between  slavery  and  freedom,  who  were  your  enemies  ? 
Protestants, — and,  if  I  may  say  it  without  offence,  none 
but  Protestants.  Let  me  prove  this.  It  is  known  how 
much  the  British  army  has  been  in  all  modern  times 
made  up  of  Irish  Catholic  soldiers.  Their  courage  and 
fidelity  have  never  been  denied  by  their  oflScers  or  the 
Government  of  England.  But  in  the  war  which  Eng- 
land was  about  to  wage  against  the  rising  liberties  of 
this  country,  Lord  Howe,  who  was  to  take  command, 
wrote  to  the  British  ministry  that  he  "  disliked  and 
could  not  depend  on  Irish  Catholic  soldiers,"  and  sug- 
gested that  German  mercenary  troops  should  be  em- 


L 


'es,  with  a 
I  have  in- 
he  motive, 
e  Colonies 
wished  to 
,  so  as  to 
1  of  their 

I  thia  side 
rar  of  In- 
d  it  to  the 
al  slavery, 
rned,  who 
Catholics, 
)ut  Catho- 
lis  remark 
lo  risked 
mid  be  es- 
o  mention 
li  at  Que- 
f  national, 
is  contest 
enemies  ? 
mce,  none 
10  wn  how 
ern  times 
irage  and 
ers  or  the 
bich  Eng- 
berties  of 
!ommand, 
iked  and 
and  8ug- 
d  be  em- 


HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


15 


ployed, — and  these  German  mercenaries  turned  out 
afterwards  to  be  the  far-famed  Hessians. 

Again  :  In  raising  German  troops  for  the  purpose 
of  crushing  the  liberties  of  this  country  in  the  war  of 
Inde[)endence,  the  agents  of  Great  Britain  on  the 
Continent  complained  of  the  obstacles  that  were  thrown 
in  their  way,  whether  in  raising  recruits,  or  in  forward- 
ing them,  and  these  difficulties,  it  appears  by  dispatchesj 
to  the  Government  in  London,  were  ascribed  to  the  in- 
trigues and  '>T>r'Osition  of  Catholics  in  Germany. 

I  think  that,  on  a  review  of  these  evidences,  there 
is  no  just  and  candid  American,  pretending  to  have 
any  adequate  knowledge  of  the  history  of  his  own 
counti-y,  who  will  not  agree  with  me,  that  at  the  close 
of  the  war  the  Catholics  of  this  land  were  entitled,  in 
their  own  right,  to  the  civil  and  religious  immunities 
which  are  secured  to  them  in  common  with  their  fel- 
low-citizens of  other  denominations,  by  tl. '  achieve- 
ment of  the  independence  of  the  United  States.  But 
there  is  another  ground,  in  favor  of  a  vast  number  of 
them,  involving  the  additional  pledge  of  national 
honoi'. 

It  will  be  recollected  that,  at  the  close  of  the  French 
war,  Canada  was  ceded  by  Fj  .mce  to  Great  Britain. 
The  Colonies  took  a  great  interest  in  that  war  in  which 
Washington,  still  a  youth,  distinguished  himself  The 
issue  of  the  struggle  has  an  immense  bearing  on  the  early 
history  of  the  United  States.  From  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  by  explora- 
tion of  rivers  and  lakes,  including  even  Lake  Superior, 
by  acquaintance  vrith  various  tribes,  by  missionary  posts 
here,  settlements  there,  forts,  or  something  correspond- 
ing, in  other  places,  the  French,  still  Catholics,  had 
created  before  the  law  of  nations  a  valid  title  to  the 


IS 
I.V 


K 


I 


M 
'1 

ft 

i 

I 
'4 


16 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHAPTER   IN   THE 


whole  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  if  they  liad 
proved  themselves  physically  capable  of  defehding  it 
against  the  combined  power  of  England  and  her  Colo- 
nies. France  proved  unequal  to  the  effort.  Canada 
was  ceded,  by  the  treaty  of  Paris,  in  1763,  to  Eng- 
land,—including  all  the  dependencies  of  Canada  or  of 
New  France  in  North  America. 

Now  the  rights  of  property  and  of  religion  were 
secured  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  territory  ceded  in 
1 763  by  France  to  England.     The  title  to  all  the  claims 
of  France  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  which  passed  to 
England   by   treaty,   became   vested  in   the   United 
States  at  the  clo«e  of  the  American  war,  and  this 
country  was  bound  in  honor  to  respect  the  clause  which 
had  secured  the  rights  of  property  and  religion  to  the 
irdinbitants.     Again,  Louisiana  was  acquired  directly 
from  France  by  purchase,  subject  to  the  same  condition. 
Florida  was  bought  from  Spain,  within  my  own  recollec- 
tion.    Texas,  at  a  period  more  recent  still,  and  now, 
last  of  all.  New  Mexico,  and  the  golden  regions  of  Cali- 
fornia, have  been  acquired  by  treaty,  and  added  to  the 
national  domain.    In  all  these  territories  and  states,  the 
rights  of  property  and  religion  have  been  guaranteed 
to  the  inhabitants ;  and  now,  at  this  late  day,  are  the 
ancient,  or  even  the  new,  Catholic  inhabitants  of  such 
towns  as  Kaskaskia,  Vincennes,  St.  Louis,  on  the  Wa- 
bash and  Mississippi,— Natchez,  Mobile,  St.  Augustine, 
New  Orleans  in  Louisiana,  Santa  Fe,  in  New  Mexico, 
or  San   Francisco,  Santa  Barbara,  and  Monterey,  in 
California,— in  despite  of  treaties,  (and  the  best  treaty 
of  all,  the  American  Constitution,)  to  be  told  that  this 
is  a  Protestant  country  ^— with  the  soothing  assurance, 
however,  that  they  need  not  be  alarmed,  that  Protes- 


HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


17 


if  they  had 
defehding  it 
id  her  Colo- 
t.  Canada 
B3,  to  Eng- 
!anada  or  of 

ligion  were 
>ry  ceded  in 
II  the  claims 
L  passed  to 
the    United 
r,  and  this 
lause  which 
gion  to  the 
ed  directly 
e  condition. 
wn  recollec- 
!,  and  now, 
ons  of  Cali- 
Ided  to  the 
I  states,  the 
Guaranteed 
ly,  are  the 
its  of  such 
>n  the  War 
Augustine, 
w  Mexico, 
»nterey,  in 
jest  treaty 
i  that  this 
assurance, 
lat  Protes- 


tantism is  only  another  name  for  liberty  of  conscience 
and  universal  toleration,  and  that  of  its  bounty,  and 
under  its  benign  and  exuberant  benevolence,  they  are 
and  shall  be  permitted  to  enjoy  themselves,  to  own  and 
manage  their  prope  .-ty,  and  to  practise  their  religion, 
just  the  same  as  if  they  were  entitled  to  equality  of 
rank  as  fellow-citizens !  Why,  if  I  know  any  thing  of 
the  American  character,  the  enlightened  portion  of  the 
Protestant  mind  of  this  country  would  feel  as  indignant 
as  the  Catholics  themselves  could  feel,  at  the  utterance 
of  such  pretensions.  And  yet  they  are  all  included  in 
that  one  unjust  and  unhallowed  assumption  that  this  is 
a  Protestant  country,  in  which  Catholics  are  permitted 
to  live  by  the  gratuity  of  Protestant  toleration. 

Let  us  now  go  back  to  the  period  whi'^h  preceded 
the  Revolution,  whilst  these  States  were  as  yet  in  the 
condition  of  British  Colonies.  I  need  hardly  recall  to 
your  recollection  that  of  the  three  primitive  Colonies, 
one,  that  of  Maryland,  was  Catholic.  That  of  Virginia 
was  first  founded  permanently  in  1607,  Massachusetts 
Colony  in  1620,  and  that  of  Maryland  in  1634.  I  will 
not  speak  of  the  other  Colonies,  because  I  do  not  re- 
gard them  as  primitive,  but  only  as  incidental  off-shoots, 
springing  up  at  a  distance,  and  oftentimes  growing  out 
of  a  local  necessity  for  a  departure  of  some  from  the 
dwelling-place  of  their  former  friends.  The  Virginians, 
if  I  have  not  misunderstood  their  character  and  history, 
were  high-minded,  chivalrous,— disposed  to  cultivate, 
and  realize  thei?'  ideal  of  English  gentlemen,  even  in 
the  wilderness.  They  were  aristocratic  in  their  feel- 
ings, and  they  could  hardly  have  been  otherwise.  They 
were  the  favored  sons  of  England  on  these  shores,  as 
regarded  both  Church  and  State. 
*  Very  different,  in  many  respects,  were  the  Pilgrim 


1 


i 


r" 


18 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHAPTER  IN  THE 


Fathers  of  Plymouth.    Both  Colonies  were  of  the  same 
national  stock  and  origin,  but  the  early  inhabitants  of 
both  had  been  brought  up  under  the  influence  of  sys- 
tems and  associations  quite  antagonistic  to  each  other. 
I  am  sorry  to  say  that  Catholics  were  not  favorites  with 
either.    They  were  regarded  by  both  with  feelings, 
if  I  can  use  such  an  expression,  of  intense  dislike, — 
whilst  neither  the  inhabitants  of  Virginia,  nor  those  of 
Massachusetts,  were,  by  any  means,  over  tolerant  to 
each  other.     The  Puritans  were  earnest  men.    This  is 
not  the  place  or  time  to  speak  of  their  religious  doc- 
trines. But  whether  they  were  safe  guides  in  Theology 
or  not,  that  they  were  sincere,  I  have  no  doubt.    Now 
next  to  truth,  in  all  cases,  sincerity  has  the  first  and 
strongest  claim  to  the  respect  and  almost  veneration  of 
the  human  mind.     Not  only  were  they  earnest  and 
sincere,  but  there  was  no  double  man  among  them. 
Whatever  they  seemed  to  be,  that  they  were,  neither 
more  nor  less.    In  the  transcendentalism  of  some  of 
their  descendants,  in  our  day,  the  whole  of  the  law 
and  the  prophets  has  been  reduced  to  the  summary  of  a 
phrase,  which  implies  that  each  one  should  "a<?<  out 
1m  own  individual  inward  life  ;"  and  this  is  the  precise 
life  of  which  their  pilgrim  fathers  had  left  them  the 
practical  example.    Among  them,  no  man  presented  a 
duality  or  plurality  of  outward  phases,  each  purporting, 
according  to  the  exigencies  of  interested  expediency,  to 
be  the  uniform  type  of  his  interior  individual  life.    They 
had  suffered  much  from  persecution  on  account  of  their 
religion,  and  they  did  not  deem  it  extravagant  to  claim, 
in  the  wilderness  at  least,  the  privilege  of  being  united, 
and  undisturbed  in  their  woi'ship  by  the  inroads  of  sec- 
tarians, and  of  doctrines  at  variance  with  their  own. 
They  had  arrived  amid  the  rigors  of  winter ;  they  were 


.  ,......-.-..^.--.  ^  -■^■*i'r*-r-TTiMiftiiM  H 


mSTORT  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


10 


tlie  same 
(itants  of 
30  of  sys- 
ch  other, 
•ites  with 

feelings, 
lislike, — 
•  those  of 
lerant  to 
This  is 
ious  doc- 
rheology 
)t.  Now 
first  and 
(ration  of 
nest  and 
Dg  them. 
B,  neither 
'  some  of 
'  the  law 
tnary  of  a 

^'■act  out 
be  precise 
them  the 
esented  a 
irporting, 
diency,  to 
fe.  They 
it  of  their 
;  to  claim, 
Qg  united, 
ads  of  sec- 
heir  own. 
they  were 


welcomed  only  by  ice,  rocks,  wild  forests,  and  the  proba- 
ble hostility  of  Indian  tribes.  The  reception  was  cold, 
indeed ;  but,  in  their  minds,  not  more  so  than  their  ex- 
pulsion from  their  native  land,  for  such  they  considered 
it,  had  been  cruel.  The  convictions  of  their  conscience, 
on  account  of  which  all  this  had  been  brought  upon 
them,  and  on  account  of  which  they  had  rejoicingly 
submitted  to  the  hardships  of  their  position,  were  such 
that  their  very  sufferings  served  but  to  render  their  re- 
ligion more  and  more  dear  to  them.  They  cherished 
their  religion  above  all  things ;  and,  with  a  view  to 
transmit  it  unaltered  to  their  posterity,  they  conceived 
that  they  did  others  no  wrong  by  excluding  all  other 
creeds,  and  the  votaries  of  them  from  their  own  remote, 
quiet,  and  united  community.  They  had  no  objection 
that  others  should  enjoy  liberty  of  conscience ;  but  it 
was  not  to  be  in  their  Colony.  They  judged  that  those 
others,  if  they  wished  liberty  of  conscience,  might  imi- 
tate their  example,  and  find  for  themselves  a  Plymouth 
rock  in  some  other  bay.  If  any  preacher  of  new  doc- 
trine rose  among  them,  they  did  not  deem  it  either 
unjust  or  oppressive  to  require  that  he  should  find  or 
found  a  congregation  for  himself  somewhere  beyond 
their  borders.  Whoever  would  judge  justly  and  im- 
partially of  their  subsequent  legislation  in  mattera  of 
religion,  should,  in  my  opinion,  regard  it  from  this 
a  priori  p  "nt  of  view. 

Next  to  religion,  they  prized  education.  K  their 
lot  had  been  cast  in  some  pleasant  place  of  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  they  would  have  sown  wheat,  and 
educated  their  children ;  but  as  it  was,  they  educated 
their  children,  and  planted  whatever  might  grow  and 
ripen  on  that  scanty  soil  with  which  capricious  nature 
had  tricked  off  and  disguised  the  granite  beds  beneath. 


20 


TUB  CATHOLIC  CHAPTER  IN  THE 


Other  Colonies  would  have  brought  up  some  of  the 
people  to  the  school ;  they,  if  I  may  be  allowed  so  to 
express  it,  let  down  the  school  to  all  the  people,  not 
doubting  but,  by  doing  so,  the  people  and  the  school 
would  rise  of  themselves.  The  consequence  has  been 
that  education  has  become,  among  their  descendants, 
a  domestic  inheritance,  transmitted  carefully  from  one 
generation  to  another.  It  has  become  one  of  the  char-' 
acteristics  of  New  England,  and  a  nobler  one  she  need 
not  desire.  Her  sons  have  gone  forth  to  every  portion 
of  this  widely  extended  and  free  empire ;  and  owing  to 
their  advantages  of  education  they  are  generally  sure  to 
succeed,  and  often  excel,  in  whatever  business  or  pro- 
fession of  life  they  adopt.  Owing  to  the  same  cause, 
the  influence  which  they  have  exercised  over  the  gene- 
ral mind  of  the  country,  has  been  felt  and  acknowledg- 
ed on  every  side.  And  if  this  is  due  first  to  therr 
common  schools,  and  next  to  their  colleges, — and  if 
they  are  indebted  for  their  common  schools  to  their 
Pilgrim  ancestors,  it  does  them  credit  that,  with  filial 
reverence,  they  keep  up  from  year  to  year  the  annual 
celebration  of  their  forefathers'  day.  But  it  never  oc- 
curred to  the  founders  of  their  common  schools  that  a 
time  should  arrive,  when,  under  the  plea  of  shutting  out 
sectarianism,  Christianity  itself  should  be  excluded  from 
popular  education.  On  the  contrary,  with  their  fore- 
fathers, the  church  and  the  school  were  regarded  as 
mutually  necessary  to  each  other,  and  not  to  be  sepa- 
rated. Time,  I  fear,  will  show  that  the  system,  the  ex- 
periment, of  divorcing  religion  from  education,  in  the 
common  schools,  will  be  attended  with  far  less  benefit 
both  to  the  pupils  and  to  the  country,  than  that  system 
which  was  sanctioned  by  the  colonists  of  Massachusetts. 
If  partiality  has  sometimes  portrayed  the  public 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


11 


fle  of  the 
wed  so  to 
eople,  not 
ihe  school 
has  been 
jceudants, 
from  one 
the  char-' 
she  need 
y  portion 
I  owing  to 
[ly  sure  to 
)8  or  pro- 
,me  cause, 
the  gene- 
tnowledg- 
i  to  therr 
I, — and  if 
3  to  their 
with  filial 
be  annual 
never  oc- 
ols  that  a 
atting  out 
ided  from 
;heir  fore- 
warded  as 
be  sepa- 
n,  the  ex- 
)n,  in  the 
iss  benefit 
at  system 
achusetts. 
lie  public 


character,  whether  of  the  primitive  Virginians,  or  of 
the  Plymouth  pilgrims,  in  colors  brighter,  that  is  more 
faring,  than  truth,  prejudice  has  seldom  failed  to  follow 
and  supply  the  shading  with  a  darker  hue  than  truth 
can  warrant. 

And  now  of  the  other  primitive  colony.  Catholic 
Maryland,  what  shall   I  say?    The  portrait  of  the 
Maryland  colony  has  also  been  taken  by  many  artists, 
and  the  mutual  resemblance  of  the  copies  is  very 
remarkable.     The  picture  is  not  over  brilliant,  but 
it  is  very  fair.     Its  light  is  so  little  exaggerated,  that 
prejudice  itself  has  never  ventured  to  profane  the  can- 
vas with  a  single  tint  of  additional  shading.    I  will  pre- 
sent it  to  you  as  drawn  by  the  impartial  pen  of  a  Pro- 
testant historian,  a  native  of  New  England  by  the  by,  of 
whose  reputation  she  and  the  whole  country  may  well  be 
proud :— I  mean  the  Hon.  George  Bancroft.   Of  dourse, 
I  shall  invite  your  attention  to  those  features  which 
show  that  if  civil,  but  especially  religious,  liberty  be  a 
dear  and  justly  cherished  privilege  of  the  American 
people,  the  palm  of  having  been  the  first  to  preach  and 
practise  it  is  due,  beyond  all  controversy,  to  the  Catho- 
lic colony  of  Maryland.     The  history  of  the  whole 
human  race  had  ftirnished  them  with  no  previous  ex- 
ample from  which  they  could  copy,  although  Catholic 
Poland  had  extended  a  measure  of  toleration  to  certain 
Protestants  of  Germany,  which  had  been  denied  them 
by  their  own  brethren  in  their  own  country. 

George  Calvert,  known  as  Lord  Baltimore,  was  the 
projector  of  the  Catholic  colony  of  Maryland,  although 
it  was  actually  settled  under  the  leadership  of  his 
brother,  Leonard  Calvert,  "who,"  says  Bancroft,  "to- 
gether with  about  two  hundred  people,  most  of  them 


i 


22 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHAPTER  IN  THE 


fj 


I 


Roman  Catholic  gentlemen  and  their  servants,  sailed 
for  the  Potomac  early  in  1634."  Their  lauding 
is  described  as  having  taken  place  on  the  27th  of 
March.  On  the  spot  on  which  they  landed  and  in  their 
firat  humble  village  of  St.  Mary  s,  the  historian  goes  on 
to  state  that — "  there  religious  liberty  obtained  a  home, 
its  only  home  in  the  wide  world."  Representative 
government  was  indissolubly  connected  with  the  funda- 
mental charter,  and  it  was  especially  provided,  that  the 
authority  of  the  absolute  proprietary  should  not  extend 
to  the  life,  freehold,  or  estate  of  any  emigrant.  The 
character  of  Lord  Baltimore  is  described  by  the  his- 
torian in  the  following  terms : — 

"  Calvert  deserves  to  be  ranked  among  the  most 
wise  and  benevolent  lawgivers  of  all  ages,  lie  waa 
the  first  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  World  to  seek 
for  religious  security  and  peace  by  the  practice  of 
justice,  and  not  by  the  exercise  of  power ;  to  plan  the 
establishment  of  popular  institutions  with  the  enjoy- 
ment of  liberty  of  conscience ;  to  advance  the  career 
of  civilization  by  recognizing  the  rightful  equality  of 
all  Christian  sects.  The  asylum  of  Papists  was  the 
spot,  where,  in  a  remote  corner  of  the  world,  on  the 
banks  of  rivers  which,  as  yet,  had  hardly  been  explor- 
ed, the  mild  forbearance  of  a  proprietary  adopted  re- 
ligious freedom  as  the  basis  of  the  state." 

He  goes  on  further  to  remark,  that  at  that  period 
"  every  other  country  in  the  world  had  persecuting  laws ; 
'  I  will  not,' — such  was  the  oath  for  the  Governor  of 
Maryland, — '  I  will  not,  by  myself  or  any  other,  directly 
or  indirectly,  molest  any  person  professing  to  believe  in 
Jesus  Christ,  for  or  in  respect  of  religion  1'  Under  the 
mild  institutions  and  munificence  of  Baltimore,  the 
dreary  wilderness  soon  bloomed  with  the  swarming 


)ti4,  sailed 

lauding 

27th  of 

id  in  their 

tt  goes  on 

d  a  home, 

ssentative 

;he  funda- 

,  that  the 

ot  extend 

int.    The 

the  hia- 

the  most 

He  was 

i  to  seek 

'actice  of 

plan  the 

he  enjoy- 

lie  career 

juality  of 

was  the 

d,  on  the 

n  explor- 

opted  re- 

at  period 
ling  laws; 
rernor  of 
V  directly 
Delieve  in 
l^nder  the 
lore,  the 
swarming 


niSTOBY  or  THE   L  M ITED  STATES.  M 

life  and  activity  of  prosperous  settlcmenta;  the  Roman 
Catholics,  who  were  oppressed  b)  tho  laws  ciEn^ltuid, 
were  sure  to  find  a  peacelu]  asylum  ii.  the  quiet  har- 
bor of  the  Chesapeake;  anu  there,  too,  I'rotestants 
were  sheltered  against  Protestant  intolerance." 

Their  Colonial  Assembly  incorporated  the  same 
principles  in  their  acts  of  legislation. 

" '  And  whereas  the  enforcing  of  the  conscience  in 
matters  of  religion' — such  was  the  sublime  tenor  of  the 
statute — '  hath  frequently  fallen  out  to  be  of  dangerous 
consequence  in  those  commonwealths  where  it  has  been 
practised,  and  for  the  more  quiet  and  peaceful  govern- 
ment of  this  province,  and  the  better  to  preserve  mu- 
tual love  and  amity  among  the  inhabitants,  no  person 
within  this  province,  professing  to  believe  in  Jesus 
Christ,  shall  be  any  ways  troubled,  molested,  or  dis- 
countenanced for  his  or  her  religion,  or  in  the  free  ex- 
ercise thereof "    He  adds  : —  .     .? » ;  ■ 

"  Maryland,  at  that  day,  was  unsurpassed  for  hap- 
piness and  liberty.  Conscience  was  without  restraint ; 
a  mild  and  liberal  proprietary  conceded  every  measure 
which  the  welfare  of  the  Colony  required ;  domestic 
union,  a  happy  concert  between  all  the  branches  of  gov- 
ernment, an  increasing  emigration,  a  productive  com- 
merce, a  fertile  soil,  which  Heaven  had  richly  favored 
with  rivers  and  deep  bays,  united  to  perfect  the  scene 
of  colonial  felicity  and  contentment.  Ever  intent  on 
advancing  the  interests  of  his  Colony,  Lord  Baltimore 
invited  the  Puritans  of  Massachusetts  to  emigrate  to 
Maryland,  oflFering  them  lands  and  privileges, '  and  free 
liberty  of  religion ;'  but  Gibbons,  to  whom  he  had  for- 
warded a  commission,  was  '  so  wholly  tutored  in  the 
New  England  discipline,'  that  he  would  not  advance 
the  wishes  of  the  Irish  peer ;  and  the  people,  who  sub- 


24 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHAPTER  IN  THE 


sequently  refused  Jamaica  and  Ireland,  were  not  now 
tempted  to  desert  the  bay  of  Massachusetts  for  the 
Chesapeake."    He  continues: — 

"  But  the  design  of  the  law  of  Maryland  was  un- 
doubtedly to  protect  freedom  of  conscience ;  and  some 
years  after  it  had  been  confirmed,"the  apologist  of  Lord 
Baltimore  could  assert,  that  his  government,  in  confor- 
mity with  his  strict  and  repeated  injunctions,  had 
never  given  disturbance  to  any  person  in  Maryland  for 
matter  of  religion ;  that  the  colonists  enjoyed  freedom 
of  conscience,  not  less  than  freedom  of  person  and  es- 
tate, as  amply  as  ever  any  people  in  any  place  of  the 
world.  The  disfranchised  friends  of  prelacy  from  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  the  Puritans  from  Virginia,  were  wel- 
comed to  equal  liberty  of  conscience  and  political 
rights  in  the  Roman  Catholic  province  of  Maryland.'' 

By  all  this  it  would  seem  that  the  provision  of  the 
Federal  Constitution,  securing  universal  freedom  of  re- 
ligion, corresponds,  or  might  be  regarded  as  having  been 
almost  literally  copied  from  the  provision  of  the  charter 
and  statutes  of  the  Catholic  Colony  of  Maryland,  pro- 
claimed and  acted  upon  by  them  one  hundred  and 
forty  years  before  the  war  of  independence.  Hence,  I 
submit  that  the  Catholics  of  the  United  States,  not 
only  by  what  has  occurred  since,  but  by  their  presence 
and  their  principles,  and  their  practice,  from  the  earliest 
colonial  times,  are  entitled  in  their  own  right  to  a  full 
participation  of  all  the  privileges,  whether  civil  or  reli- 
gious, which  have  been  acquired  by  this  country  in  the 
progress  of  her  history.  I  have  seen  it  stated  in  writ- 
irig,  and  it  may  even  occur  to  some  one  in  this  assembly, 
that  the  Catholics  had  no  merit  in  this,  inasmuch  as 
they  were  too  weak  and  too  much  afraid  to  have  acted 
otherwise.    Such  an  observation  is  more  damaging  to 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


25 


ire  not  now 
tts  for  the 

ad  was  un- 
;  and  some 
^st  of  Lord 
,  in  confor- 
;tions,  had 
iryland  for 
id  freedom 
son  and  es- 
lace  of  the 
from  Mas- 
were  wel- 
i  political 
Maryland." 
don  of  the 
dom  of  re- 
aving been 
;he  charter 
Inland,  pro- 
idred  and 
Hence,  I 
:itates,  not 
r  presence 
ihe  earliest 
lit  to  a  full 
vdl  or  reli- 
try  in  the 
id  in  writ, 
assembly, 
ismuch  as 
lave  acted 
maging  to 


the  character  of  the  other  two  Protestant  Colonies 
than  to  that  of  Maryland.  For  if  Protestantism  be 
that  liberal,  generous,  and  tolerant  system  which  we 
hear  so  much  of,  why  should  the  Catholics  of  Mary- 
land have  been  afraid  of  their  neighbors  ?  The  ob- 
jection is  severe,  almost  sarcastic,  in  relation  to  Protes- 
tantism. But  if  it  be  said  that  the  Colony  of  Mary- 
land was  weak,  as  compared  with  either  of  the  others ; — 
I  will  let  that  pass,  with  the  observation,  that  if  no 
higher  motive  can  be  ascribed  for  their  proclaiming 
freedom  of  conscience,  then  I,  for  one,  do  not  regret 
their  weakness ;  for,  perhaps,  if  they  had  been  strong, 
they  might  have  been  tempted  to  emulate  and  imitate 
the  example  of  their  colonial  neighbors. 

It  has  been  remarked  by  a  modern  writer,  that  for 
the  last  three  hundred  years,  what  is  commonly  called 
history  would  seem  to  be  a  conspiracy  against  truth. 
The  ground  of  his  remark  which  is  highly  exaggerated, 
is,  that  amidst  so  many  religions,  each  historian  is  lia- 
ble to  be  biassed  by  the  prejudices  of  youth,  the  influ- 
ence of  associations,  and  partialities  in  favor  of  his  own 
sect  and  creed.  If  there  be  any  truth  in  the  remark, 
and  I  think  there  is  some,  it  cannot  be  a  bad  rule,  when 
a  historian  writes  fiercely  against  the  professors  of  an 
opposite  creed,  or  in  favor  of  those  who  belong  to  his 
own,  to  receive  his  statements,  not  as  gospel,  but  for 
what  they  are  worth.  But  when  a  historian  writes 
favorably  of  those  professing  an  opposite  religion  to 
his  own,  then  his  statements  are  the  testimony  which 
is  extorted  by,  or  voluntarily  offered  to  the  majesty 
of  truth.  As  to  prejudice  or  partiality,  Mr.  Bancroft 
is  admitted  by  all  to  be  above  auspicion :  still  he  is  a 
Protestant,  and  on  this  account  I  preferred  that  you 
should  hear  his  testimony  in  regard  to  the  Catholic 


26 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHAPTER  IN  THE 


I 


Colony  of  Maryland,  expressed  in  language  far  more 
classical  and  elegant  than  any  I  could  employ. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  diminish,  by  one  iota,  the 
merit  that  is  claimed  for  Rhode  Island,  Pennsylvania, 
and,  perhaps,  other  States,  on  the  score  of  having  pro- 
claimed religious  freedom ;  but  the  Catholics  of  Mary- 
land, by  priority  of  time,  have  borne  away  the  prize, 
and  it  is  but  just  to  say, 

"  ferat,  qui  meruit,  palmam." 

But  it  was  not  in  Maryland  alone  that  the  Catho- 
lics, in  the  early  history  of  the  Colonies,  gave  proof  of 
their  devotedness  to  the  principle  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty.  The  State  archives  of  New-York  furnish  tes- 
timonies in  this  respect,  not  less  honorable  than  those 
of  Maryland. 

In  1609  the  North  River  kissed,  for  the  first  time, 
the  prow  of  a  European  vessel ;  and  the  gallant  bark 
acknowledged,  as  the  way  of  ships  is,  the  afifection- 
ate  welcome,  in  the  deep  furrows  which  she  ploughed 
up,  for  the  first  time  also,  on  the  tranquil  surface  of  the 
beautiful  river.  But  these  soon  disappeared.  For  it  is 
the  property  of  water,  whether  by  river,  or  lake,  or 
sea,  or  ocean, — as  if  intended  to  be  a  natural  symbol  of 
true  charity  and  true  friendship  among  men, — to  render 
the  appropriate  service  to  those  who  require  it,  and 
then  generously  blot  out  every  record  and  memory  of 
the  favor  conferred.  The  captain  of  that  ship,  the 
name  of  which  I  forget,  was  an  Englishman,  in  the 
service  of  the  Dutch  government.  His  own  name,  I 
need  hardly  tell  you,  was  Henry  Hudson. 

From  this  beginning  resulted,  at  a  later  period  of 
our  history,  Fort  Manhattan,  next  New  Amsterdam 


HISTORY  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


m 


far  more 

iota,  the 
sylvania, 
v'mg  pro- 
of Mary- 
the  prize, 


le  Catho- 
!  proof  of 
religious 
rnish  tes- 
lan  those 

irst  time, 
lant  bark 
affection- 
ploughed 
ace  of  the 

For  it  is 
•  lake,  or 
symbol  of 
to  render 
'e  it,  and 
emory  of 
ship,  the 
Q,  in  the 

name,  I 

period  of 
nsterdam 


and  the  Province  of  New  Netherlands ;  now,  however, 
the  City  and  State  of  New-York.  The  Colony  of 
New  Amsterdam  and  New  Netherlands  had  been  in 
existence,  under  the  sway  of  a  Protestant  government, 
from  that  time  till  1683 ;  and  as  yet,  strange  as  it  may 
sound  in  the  eare  of  my  auditory,  not  a  single  ray  of 
liberty,  as  we  understand  it,  had  dawned  on  the  in- 
habitants of  New  Netherlands.  This  is  queer,  if,  as  is 
sometimes  assumed,  all  liberty  must  necessarily  come 
from  Protestantism.  If  so,  why  had  the  Protestant 
government  of  Holland  left  its  Protestant  subjects 
here  so  long  destitute  of  what  we  now  call  their  civil 
and  religious  rights  ? 

The  English  took  possession  of  the  province  in 
1664, — and  the  territoiy  extending  from  the  banks 
of  the  Connecticut  to  those  of  the  Delaware,  was 
granted  by  Charles  the  Second  to  his  brother  James, 
Duke  of  York  and  Albany.  In  1673,  the  authority 
of  Holland  was  once  more  temporarily  established; 
but  at  the  close  of  the  war  in  the  following  year,  the 
province  was  finally  restored  to  England.  The  Duke 
of  York  took  out  a  new  patent.  He  was  a  Catholic, 
and  although  the  school  books  say  he  was  a  tyrant, 
still  it  is  a  fact  of  history,  that  to  him  the  inhabitants 
of  New  Netherlands,  whether  Dutch  or  English,  were 
indebted  for  their  first  possession  and  exercise  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty. 

"  The  Duke  of  York,"  says  the  historian  whom  I 
have  already  so  often  quoted,  "  was  at  the  same  time 
solicited  by  those  about  him  to  sell  the  territory.  He 
demanded  the  advice  of  one  who  always  advised  hon- 
estly ;  and  no  sooner  had  the  father  of  Pennsylvania, 
after  a  visit  at  New-York,  transmitted  an  account  of 
the  reforms  which  the  province  required,  than,  without 


96 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHAPTER  IN  THE 


delay,  Thomas  Dongan,  a  Papist,  came  over  as  gover- 
nor, with  instructiona  to  convoke  a  free  legislature.'" 

"  At  last,"  Bancroft  goes  on  to  say, "  after  long  effort, 
on  the  seventeenth  day  of  October,  1683,  about  seventy 
years  after  Manhattan  was  first  occupied,  about  thirty 
years  after  the  demand  of  the  popular  convention  by 
the  Dutch,  the  representatives  of  the  people  met  in 
assembly,  and  their  self-established  '  chabter  of  liber- 
ties' gave  New-York  a  place  by  the  side  of  Vir^nia 
and  Massachusetts." 

" '  Supreme  legislative  power ' — such  was  its  decla- 
ration— '  shall  for  ever  be  and  reside  in  the  governor, 
council,  and  people,  met  in  general  assembly.  Every 
freeholder  and  freeman  shall  vote  for  representation 
without  restraint.  No  freeman  shall  suffer  but  by 
judgment  of  his  peers ;  and  all  trials  shall  be  by  a 
jury  of  twelve  men.  No  tax  shall  be  assessed,  on  any 
pretence  whatever,  but  by  the  consent  of  the  assembly. 
No  seaman  or  soldier  shall  be  quartered  on  the  in- 
habitants against  their  will.  No  martial  law  shall 
exist.  No  person,  professing  faith  in  God  by  Jesus 
Christ,  shall  at  any  time  be  any  ways  disquieted  or 
questioned  for  any  difference  of  opinion.' " 

I  know  not  how  it  has  happened  that,  in  treating 
this  subject,  I  had  hardly  launched  my  slender  skiff, 
when  I  found  it  heading  up  stream,  instead  of  gliding 
gently  down  the  current  of  historical  events.  But 
now  I  hardly  regret  its  caprice.  I  commenced  with 
the  floating  of  our  flag  from  the  battlements  of  Mexico, 
— that  is,  I  began  at  the  end,  and,  no  doubt,  it  will  be 
regarded  as  altogether  in  keeping,  that  I  should  end 
at  the  beginning.  But  the  events  are  the  same,  no 
matter  under  which  order  of  chronology  they  are  con- 
sidered.   That  little  skiff,  if  I  may  be  allowed  to  ex- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


29 


tend  the  figure  for  a  moment,  has  stemmed  the  flow  of 
a  certain  prejudice  which  calls  itself  history,  has  over- 
come successfully  even  the  rapids  of  the  adverse  tide, 
— and  now  having  reached,  or  approximated,  the  tran- 
quil waters  of  earlier  times,  I  can  guide  its  onward 
coui'se,  with  gentle  and  recreative  labor,  to  the  very 
well-springs  of  American  history. 

Having  glanced  at  the  period  subsequent  to  the 
adoption  of  our  Federal  Constitution — at  the  circum- 
stances of  its  formation — at  those  of  the  American  war 
of  independence,  which  had  preceded — at  those  of  the 
earlier  Colonies,  especially  of  the  three  primitive 
ones,  Virginia,  Massachusetts,  and  Maryland, — I  now 
approach  a  period  anterior  to  the  Colonies  themselves, 
namely,  the  period  of  discoveries.  In  this  period  all,  or 
nearly  all,  is  Catholic.  From  the  first  discovery  of  the 
country  in  1492,  until  the  date  of  the  settlement  of  the 
first  permanent  Colony  at  Jamestown,  Virginia,  one 
hundred  and  seventeen  years  had  passed  away.  To- 
wards the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  several  efforts 
had  been  made,  under  Protestant  auspices,  by  Sir 
"Walter  Kaleigh  and  his  relative,  Gilbert,  to  make  a 
settlement  on  the  Atlantic  borders  of  this  country. 
These  attempts  proved  unsuccessful.  Their  projectors 
succeeded  only  in  giving  a  name  to  the  territory  in 
which  their  experiment  had  failed.  They  called  it  Vir- 
ginia, a  name  intended,  no  doubt,  as  a  compliment  to 
Queen  Elizabeth.  But  within  seventy  years  from  the 
first  voyage  of  Columbus,  the  coast  had  been  visited, 
explored,  sketched  in  maps  circulated  in  Europe  at 
the  time, — visited  and  explored,  I  say,  in  all  direc- 
tions, north  and  south,  east  and  west,  on  the  Atlantic 
and  on  the  Pacific, — by  scientific  and  daring  naviga- 
tors, all  Catholics,  and  all  sailing  under  the  flag  of 


0= 


80 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHAPTER  IN  THE 


some  Catholic  power  in  Europe.  Quebec  was  founded 
in  1541.  And  from  the  spot  on  which  we  stand,  to 
the  North  Pole,  France  at  that  period  was  in  actual 
possession, — in  this  sense,  at  least,  that  there  was  no 
European  power  to  question  her  title  or  disturb  her 
occupancy.  And  from  this  spot  to  Cape  Horn,  the 
same  was  true  m  regard  to  the  occupation  and  claim 
of  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese.  ' 

But  as  I  have  spoken  of  the  primitive  Colonies,  so 
I  would  now  distinguish  the  primary  Discoverers  of 
America,  from  those  who  must  take  rank  in  the  second- 
ary or  tertiary  class.  Even  in  the  primary  class,  there 
must  be  no  competition  of  honor  or  merit,  as  regards  one 
who  stands  out  by  himself,  the  first,  alone,  incomparable, 
peerless — Chistopher  Columbus.  But  at  a  certain  dis- 
tance behind  him,  there  were  three  formidable  rivals, 
desirous  of  seeming,  at  least,  to  share  with  him  a  por- 
tion of  that  human  glory  which  has  made  his  name  im- 
mortal. You  will  not  be  surprised  that  all  these  were 
Catholics,  since  at  the  period  in  which  they  lived  and 
struggled  for  fame,  Protestantism  had  not  yet  begun. 
But  you  will  be  struck  with  the  fact,  that  the  three  imi- 
tators and  rivals  of  Columbus,  were  his  own  countrymen 
— Italians,  all.  Their  names  were  Cabot  (father  and 
son),  Amerigo  Vespucci,  and  Verazzani,  the  two  latter 
natives  of  Florence,  and  the  former,  though  residing  in 
Bristol,  in  England,  a  native  of  Venice. 

We  cannot  help  regretting  that  the  new  hemisphere 
did  not  take  the  ni*me  of  the  first  discoverer  (if,  as  it 
would  appear,  it  had  no  name  of  its  own) — that  it  was 
not  called  Columbia,  after  the  noble  Genoese  sailor,  in- 
stead of  America,  from  Amerigo,  the  Florentine.  But 
after  all,  justice,  in  this  respect,  has  contrived  to  es- 


niSTORY  OP  THK  UNITED  STATES. 


31 


tablisli  a  '  court  of  error'  in  the  popular  mind,  whether 
in  this  land  or  in  Europe,  which  rules,  that  whenever 
you  pronounce  the  name  of  America,  every  one  thinks 
of  Columbus,  and  no  one  of  Vespucci. 

Poor  Columbus !  A  sailor  himself  and  as  heir  to 
the  papers  of  his  father-in-law,  he  had  heard  and  read 
of  voyages  and  their  wonders,  not  unlike  in  their  philo- 
sophy (but  of  a  higher  and  different  order)  those  which 
tempted  Douglas  from  his  Grampian  hills.  He  went 
about  from  court  to  court,  with  a  heavy  heart,  asking 
permission  to  vmt  the  western  continent  and  bring 
back  news.  Courtiers,  and  even  sovereigns,  who  listen- 
ed for  a  moment  to  his  pleading,  said  or  thought 
that  the  poor  man  was  deranged.  No,  he  was  not ;  but 
he  would  have  probably  become  so,  if  Providence 
had  not  opened  for  him  an  occasion  and  opportunity 
to  test  his  theory  by  practical  experiment.  The  dif- 
ficulty was  want  of  means  to  execute  his  project,  or 
pei'ish  in  the  effort.  In  the  court  of  Spain  he  had  the 
support  of  one  or  two  distinguished  ecclesiastics.  Co- 
lumbus was  a  scientific  enthusiast,  and  such  men  are 
always  eloquent  when  they  speak  of  their  favorite  pro- 
ject. Still  his  eloquence  had  proved  vain  at  many  courts, 
and  in  the  final,  almost  hopeless  interview,  it  was,  as  he 
knelt  pleading  beforeF  erdinand  and  Isabella,  that  he 
touched  a  chord  which  vibrated  in  thr^  inmost  heart  of 
the  illustrious  and  royal  lady.  In  that  august  presence, 
he  had  spoken  of  the  anticipated  glory  and  gain,  con- 
nected with  the  success  of  his  enterprise,  but  without 
effect.  But  when  he  spoke  of  the  probability  of  the 
existence  of  men  made  after  God's  image,  who  might 
be  brought  to  know  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  be  saved,  be- 
lieving in  Him,  he  melted  the  heart  of  "  Isabella,  the 
Catholic,"— so  that  she  lost  all  appreciation  of  the  jewels 


lo' 


f 


82 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHAPTER  IN  THE 


that  adorned  her  person  and  her  diadem,  threw  them, 
BO  to  speak,  at  the  feet  of  the  enthusiast,  and  deemed 
their  value  as  nothing,  compared  with  the  mere  pos- 
sibility of  their  being  instrumental  in  bringing  souls 
buried  in  the  darkness  of  paganism  to  the  knowledge 
of  Christ. 

In  a  few  months  afterwards,  Columbus  was  seen 
planting  the  cross  on  the  island  of  San  Salvador,  and 
taking  possession  of  this  hemisphere,  in  the  name  of 
Christ  our  Saviour  ("  San  Salvador")  and  of  Spain.  I 
look  upon  this  scene  as  one  of  the  most  interesting,  if  not 
thrilling,  events  recorded  in  the  annals  of  the  human 
race.  But  in  this  title-page  and  frontispiece  of  Amer- 
ican history,  Columbus  was  l  jt  alone.  His  partner  in 
the  glory  was  Isabella  the  Catholic,  the  meek,  the 
brave,  the  enlightened,  the  discreet,  the  beautiful 
Queen  of  Castile  and  Aragon. 

Five  years  from  the  date  of  that  event,  namely,  in 
1497,  John  and  Sebastian  Cabot  were  sent  out  by  the 
British  Government  under  Henry  the  Seventh,  and 
made  an  extensive  survey  of  this  coast, — creating  there- 
by that  title  on  which  Queen  Elizabeth  based  her  right 
to  plant  colonies  in  this  country,  more  than  eighty 
years  afterwards. 

I  have  now  touched,  merely  touched,  on  the  pro- 
minent points  of  American  history,  so  far  as  my  sub- 
ject authorized  or  required  me  to  do  so,  from  the  first 
to  the  last  page.  I  have  reviewed  the  validity  of  the 
imaginary  claims  on  which  it  is  assumed  that  this  is 
a  Protestant  country, — in  presence  of  the  Constitution, 
and  all  that  has  happened  since  its  adoption — in  pre- 
sence of  the  faith  of  treaties — in  presence  of  the  war  of 
freedom  and  independence — in  presence  of  colonial 
history — in  presence  of  the  period  of  discoveries  ante- 


UISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


88 


•>  4 


cedent  to  colonial  settlement,  at  least  on  these  shores, 
— and  as  yet,  I  confess,  I  have  not  discovered  the  first 
fact  or  document  which  could  warrant  any  man,  pos- 
sessed of  an  ordinary  amount  of  true  information,  to 
assume  that  this  is  a  Protestant  more  than  a  Catholic 
country.  •     ,  . 

But,  perhaps,  it  may  be  said  that  the  religious  or 
sectarian  character  of  a  country  is  to  be  determined, 
not  by  historic  titles,  either  of  discovery  or  occupation, 
but  by  the  genius  of  its  political  and  civil  institutions. 
If  this  ground  be  taken,  the  evidences  on  the  Catholic 
side  are  stronger  than  those  which  have  already  passed 
in  review.  The  great  elements  of  our  institutions, 
namely,  representative  government,  electoral  franchise, 
trial  by  jury,  municipal  polity,  were  all  the  inventions 
of  Catholics  alone.  They  come  in  part  from  the  period 
of  Alfred  the  Great.  They  had  acquired  a  very  high 
development  already  under  Edward  the  Confessor,  and 
it  was  only  after  royal  power  had  attempted  to  make  en- 
croachments on  the  rights  secured  by  them,  that  the  Ba- 
rons at  Runnymede  extorted  from  King  John  a  written 
pledge,  not  to  secure  new  privileges,  but  to  confirm  those 
which  were  understood  as  the  hereditary  birthright  of 
English  Catholic  freemen.  These,  therefore,  assuredly 
d .  not  supply  any  evidence  that  this  is  a  Protestant 
country.  But,  perhaps,  it  may  be  well  to  inquire 
what  is  meant  by  this  term.  It  surely  cannot  be  that 
the  elements  of  nature,  earth,  air,  fire,  or  water  can  be 
qualified  as  belonging  to  one  denomination  more  than 
to  another.  We  are  composed  of  Catholics  and  Protes- 
tants, if  you  will,  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  common  inherit- 
ance ;  and  although  the  fields  of  Protestant  proprietors 
may  be  more  numerous  than  those  of  Catholics,  still 
the  same  dews  of  Heaven  cause  the  wheat  to  germinate 
S 


;>/'r~ 


f*  THE  CHTnOLIO  CnAPTER  IN  THE 

in  the  earth,  and  the  same  sunbearaa  ripen  the  harvest 
of  the  one  as  well  as  of  the  other,  without  discrimina- 
tion. But  if  those  Protestant  proprietors  should  ask 
■of  us  to  be  grateful  for  this,  that  they  permitted  us  to 
share  the  dews  and  the  sunbeams  with  themselves,  that 
we  ought  to  be  thankful  for  this,  our  answer  is.  No,  gen- 
tlemen ;  our  title  to  the  benefit  of  the  seasons  is  just  the 
same  as  yours.  We  ar*»,  indeed,  grateful  for  your  kind 
offices  of  good  neighborhood,  but,  pray,  do  not  require 
us  to  give  you  thanks  for  Heaven's  gifts,  which  we 
share  in  our  own  right. 

What,  then,  is  the  meaning  of  the  words  Protes- 
tant country,  as  applied  to  the  United  States  ?  I  sup- 
pose that,  at  last,  it  will  come  down  to  signify  nothing 
more  than  that  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  are 
Protestants.  But  has  it  never  occurred  to  those 
who  could  make  such  an  observation,  that  majorities 
and  minorities  are  mere  accidents,  liable  to  change, 
whereas  the  constitution  is  o.  pi'inciple,  and  not  an  acci- 
dent ?  Its  great  and  inappreciable  value  is  that  it  pre- 
scribes the  duties  of  majorities,  and  protects,  wit 'i  v^qual 
and  impartial  justice,  the  rights  of  minorities.  In 
this  country,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is 
the  majority,  and  it  shall  rule.  Now,  in  presence  of 
the  Constitution,  this  is  neither  a  Catholic  nor  a  Pro- 
testant country,  but  a  broad  land  of  civil  and  reli- 
gious freedom  and  equality,  secured  indiscriminately 
to  all. 

In  passmg  so  rapidly  on  the  direct  line  of  my  sub- 
ject, I  have  been  obliged  to  leave  unnoticed  innumer- 
able incidents,  many  of  which  possess  attraction  enough 
to  have  made  one  turn  aside,  and  daily  by  the  way.  For 
instance,  the  missionary  labors  of  the  Jesuits  and  other 
apostles  of  the  Cross,  who,  thirsting  not  for  gold,  but 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UN  [TED  STATES. 


86 


In 


for  souls,  had  not  ceased  to  traverse  this  country,  in 
every  direction,  from  the  earliest  period.    Time  has,'  to 
a  great  extent,  obliterated  their  footprints  on  the  soil, 
but  the  reason  is,  in  part,  that  the  Indian  tribes  among 
whom  they  labored  are  gone,— shrinking  away  into  the 
deeper  or  more  distant  wilderness.     The  memory  of 
the  illustrious  Jesuit  Fathers,  who  labored  for  their 
convei-sion,  has  accompanied  their  descendants  even 
to  their  present  remotest  hunting-gi-ounds.    But  it  has 
become  comparatively  weak,  and  is  now  reduced  to  a 
symbolic  term,  which  they  cherish  with  great  affection, 
and  express  in  the  words  'black-gown,'  or  'role  nolr: 
Two  hundred  years  ago,  the  poor  Franciscans  trod  the 
golden  sand  gf  California  beneath  their  bare  feet,  with- 
out noticing  or  appreciating  its  value.    They  looked 
more  to  Heaven  than  to  earth,  and  it  would  have  been 
almost  out  of  keeping  with  their  character,  to  have 
made  the  discovery,  which  has  recently  startled  the 
mind  and  whetted  the  cupidity  of  the  world. 

Two  hundred  years  ago.  Father  Le  Moyne,  labor- 
mg  among  the  Onondagas  of  this  State,  discovered  the 
Salt  Springs,  which  abound  near  Salina  and  Syracuse. 
At  present,  nearly  all  men  believe  in  the  reality  of  the 
discovery,  but  prejudice  was  then  what  prejudice  is 
now,  and  when  a  Dutch  clergyman  of  New  Amster- 
dam, to  whom  Father  Le  Moyne  had  made  known 
the  discovery,  reported  the  same  to  the  Classis  in  Hol- 
land, ]       dded,  by  way  of  caution,  «  but  whether  this 
informau.u  be  true,  or  whether  it  be  a  Jesuit  lie,  I 
do  not  determine ! "    And  in  that  precise  year,  that 
is,  in  1654— passing  to  another  scene  of  a  different 
order,  you  will  be  surprised  and  sorry  to  hear  that  the 
Catholics  cf  Maryland,  who  had  given  such  an  example 


1^/' 


M 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHAPTEn  IN  THE 


as  we  have  seen  rlosnlLeJ,  were  themselves  disfran- 
chised on  uccount  of  religion. 

It  is  not  to  be  inferred  that,  in  this  historic  review, 
I  have  been  insensible  to  the  merits  of  other  persons 
and  other  parties  besides  Catholics.  But  the  character 
of  my  subject,  and  the  limitation  of  my  time,  do  not 
permit  me  to  speak  of  them.  Nor  is  it  necessary. 
Neither  the  descendants  of  the  Virginia  Colonists,  nor 
those  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  have  allowed  their  ances- 
tors to  pass  away  "  unwept,  unhonored,  or  unsung." 
They  are  proud  of  being  the  descendants  of  such 
parentage.  Nor  need  a  Catholic  be  ashamed  if  he  is 
told  that  he  was  bom  near  the  site  of  old  St.  Mary's, 
in  Maryland.  As  a  Colony,  and  as  a  State,  she  has 
had  her  distinguished  men.  The  supreme  recognized 
interpreter  of  the  laws,  even  of  the  Constitution, 
is  her  son,  and  a  Catholic.  The  judicial  ermine  will 
contract  no  stain  while  it  is  worn  by  him.  Pure  and 
unsullied  he  received  it  from  the  illustrious  Marshall, 
and  to  his  unknown  successor  he  will  transmit  it  as 
dnsullied  and  as  pure, — but  not  purer  than  is  his 
own  private  character.  The  death  of  Charles  Carroll 
of  CarroUton,  the  last  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  is  a  comparatively  recent  event.  The 
galaxy  of  great  men  who  had  endorsed  that  immortal 
instiTiment  had  disappeared,  one  after  another,  until 
the  star  of  Maryland  alone  was  left, — and  not  by  one 
State,  but  by  all,  its  declining  course  was  watched  with 
deepest  interest,  until,  becoming  brighter  as  it  neared 
the  horizon,  it  was  seen  no  more, — a^  i  is  now  but  a 
gratefully  cherished  memory. 

The  moral  of  the  remarks  I  have  made,  if  they 
have  any,  should  be,  in  my  judgment,  that  no  preten- 
sions to  religious  ascendency  should  be  entertained  on 


V 


HISTORY  or  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


87 


one  side,  or  admitted  on  the  other.  In  the  whole  range 
of  human  benefits,  no  nation  on  the  earth  has  more 
reason  to  be  thankful  for  the  favors  which  the  kind 
Providence  of  iVlmighty  God  has  placed  in  its  pos- 
session, and  within  its  reach,  than  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  Let  tliem,  without  distinction  of  creed, 
unite,  and  bo  united,  in  preserving  the  common  inher- 
itance ; — let  them  vie  with  each  other  in  mutual  kind- 
ness and  good  offices ;  vie  with  each  other  in  honorable 
rivalship,  as  to  who  shall  be  best  citizens  ;  who  shall 
most  faithfully  support  the  country  and  obey  the  laws. 
I  hope  the  time  is  far  distant,  but  yet  it  may  come, 
when  our  country  shall  have  need  of  all  her  children. 
O  then,  let  them  be  prepared  to  rally  around  her,  as 
around  their  common  mother,  who  had  been  at  all  times 
equally  impartial,  and  equally  kind  to  them  all. 

I  cannot  conclude  without  calhng  your  attention  to 
three  distinct  moments  of  American  history,  which,  in 
the  events  themselves,  in  their  circumstances  and  con- 
sequences, stand  out  apart  in  their  own  moral  grandeur, 
— not  to  be  confounded  with  any  othei-s.  The  fii-st,  is 
the  moment  when  Washington  spontaneously  returned 
his  victorious  sword  to  the  civil  authority  of  the  coun- 
try which  he  had  liberated.  To  my  mind,  the  annals  of 
mankind,  from  the  very  origin  of  time,  have  never  pre- 
sented, in  the  order  of  merely  human  moral  grandeur, 
a  moment  or  a  spectacle,  more  sublime  than  this.  The 
other,  not  less  sublime,  is  that  in  which,  aftc*  having 
remained  unknown  to  each  other,  so  far  as  we  can  tell, 
from  the  period  when  the  foundations  of  the  earth 
were  laid,  two  worlds  met  for  the  first  time,  and  were 
introduced  to  each  other  around  the  cross,  ^jlanted  "by 
Columbus,  on  the  Island  of  San  Salvador,  in  1492. 
The  third,  was  that  in  which  the  Queen  of  Castile  and 


I  V 


1 


88 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHAPTER. 


[ 
I 


L 


AragoD,  oflfered  to  pledge  the  precious  stones  of  her 
crown,  in  order  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  expedi- 
tion.    If,  as  there  is  reason  to  believe,  she  was  prompt- 
ed to  this  hy  love  for  s-  )uls  that  might  be  saved,  even 
though  their  existence  was  yet  doubtful,  this  was  not 
only  a  sublime  moment,  it  was  almost  divine,  as  insur- 
ing success  to  the  enterprise  from  the  inward  prompt- 
ing and  impulse  of  heavenly  charity.     Of  coui-se,  the 
chivalry  of  Spain  would  not  allow  their  sovereign  lady 
to  make  such  a  sacrifice.    They  provided  means  from 
other  sources.    And  although  they  did  well  in  this,  we 
aye  tempted  almost  to  regret  that  some  of  her  jewels 
did  not,  by  some  honest  accident,  find  their  way  to 
this  country.     The  sword  of  Washington  is  treasured 
as  a  precious  relic,  no  less  of  his  patriotism  than  of  his 
bravery.     The  hilt  of  such  a  sword  would  be  fitly 
gemmed  by  a  jewel  once  possessed  by  such  a  queen— 
the  patroness  of  Christopher  Columbus.    The  double 
relic  ^vould  represent  two  important  events  connected 
with  American  history,  and  be  an  interesting  memorial 
at  the  same  time  of  the  achievements  of  Washington 
and  of  the  magnanimity  and  charity  of  "  Isabella  the 
Catholic." 


^«^r**wswrftt*».,.a 


I 

I 


38  of  her 
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